THE RIVER 35 



All around us there was perfect stillness : not a leaf 

 moved ; there was not a breath of air. But the cloud of 

 dust was rapidly advancing, and as it advanced it 

 shut out all behind it. In a minute or two it had 

 reached the houses on the other side of the road ; it 

 seemed to swallow them up. As I looked it crossed 

 the road, and hid the compound wall ; then came a rush 

 of wind ; a few drops of rain fell. I had only just time 

 to get back into the house before the cloud of dust 

 enveloped us. It hid the sun : it dimmed the light ; 

 inside the house there was utter darkness. 



The darkness was so intense, that till the candles 

 were lighted I had to grope my way, and even the 

 candles when lighted only faintly illumined the room. 

 They seemed to shine as through a dense haze, for, 

 though every door was closely shut, the dust had found 

 its way in, and filled the air. 



This intense darkness continued for at least an hour, 

 then there came a faint twilight, and gradually day 

 reappeared. It was near sunset, however, before the 

 storm had entirely passed away, and it was not till 

 well into the night that the dust in the atmosphere had 

 altogether subsided. 



The time while the storm lasted was a time of much 

 discomfort. Dinner had to be postponed, and even 

 then was cooked and served with great difficulty. A 

 thick layer of dust spread over the floors and carpets, 

 and covered the beds, the chairs, and every other article 

 of furniture, besides filling my hair and every fold in 

 my clothes. 



These discomforts, however, afterwards had their 



